Just Another Day
by PWNAGENINJA
Summary: Small stories and drabbles and things. Rating is different for each story.
1. Intro

So I realized, that my content level on ff is actually really low, even though I have so much stuff written or half written and just so many random ideas that I want to publish. So this story is called Just Another Day because its going to be filled with randomness.

From little drabbles, or small conversations that mean little to nothing, or even a full-fledged mini story, all of that is going to be here. This is going to be my random writings story for Maid-Sama. This is also where for the first time ever I'll be taking requests. If you have a song or random idea or just something special that you'd like me to dedicate to you for the idea maybe as a birthday gift or something, I'll put it up here.

So ya… I just want to be able to put up random ideas that I have, but aren't full stories or multi-chapter stories or whatever. Hope you guys like it. I'd love for you all to get involved. You can reach me by PM or if you guys want I have a tumblr page (haven't used it in years) but I can use it to take ideas and suggestions from you all. Oh I can also answer random questions on here about myself or the other stories. Just however and whatever so that I can keep in touch with and get to know my readers

Let me know what you think and send me your ideas and suggestions

Peace out

PWNAGENINJA.


	2. Undertaker

**So let's give this a try shall we. And to the guest reviewer you're not rude no worries :) I'm working on JD its just taking a bit longer to piece together what I want done. But I promise you I am going to publish it tonight. So please wait and read it when it comes out.**

 **Notice, these aren't complete stories, just random ideas that I most likely will not continue and don't really care to have a full proper ending to them. So if they end abruptly, that's cause that's all i could think of and because I just wanted it to be a glimpse of a moment. I may also move from my usual writing style to try things out. Please bear with me and if you have suggestions, comments complaints criticisms, tell me alllll of them. I'd love to hear them.**

 **SO yes, here's the first one. Enjoy! Oh I might also have mini episodes from JD and TOE in here that I couldn't fit in the main story. so wait for those :p**

* * *

 **Title:** Undertaker

 **Characters:** Misaki A.

 **Summary:** Death is a natural part of life, so an Undertaker is a natural role in life. But very few are willing to take it.

 **Rating:** T (Not dark per se, but a little more on the harsh side of reality might seem a bit disturbing to some, so please take care while you read, if you choose to do so.)

Misaki wiped the sweat off her brow from a little napkin she had in her pocket. Days like today were the worst days for grave digging. The flies swarmed around her head and her hair stuck to her face even as she tried to peel it off. She had thought that short hair would help, didn't make a difference. She still came home sweaty every night. But hey, a girl's gotta make money to survive. If this was the way to do it, then so be it.

The worst part of this would be when she got back to the funeral home to ready the dead body and bring it to the grave yard for the burial. Though she had kept the body in the freezer it would still be risky to bring it out in the heat. Misaki shook the thoughts of the body from her head. She'd deal with that when the time came, for now she had to finish the grave.

This grave was for an elderly gentleman from a rich family who was on the taller side, meaning his grave had to be deeper and longer more work for her. After a while Misaki noticed her head being level with the edge of the grave. This was her usual measurement for taller people as she was fairly tall herself. She cleared out little pieces of dirt from around the edge before throwing the shovel out of the grave. With a grunt of effort she lifted herself out of the grave and sat on the edge of it.

She stared at the hole she had dug, inspecting around the edges making sure she had perfected it. It may seem silly since it was going to be filled anyways, but there was something important about making sure that a person's final home was ready for them to rest in. When she had learned about the Egyptians pyramids and process of burying the dead with things of this world for their next. She didn't particularly believe in an afterlife, but she did feel like the grave was a bed for those who are gone, the more comfortable you make it for them, the better it is.

Misaki stood up and wiped her filthy hands on her even filthier clothes before gathering her equipment and trudging towards her pickup truck. She threw her stuff in the back and climbed into the front seat and drove to the funeral home. Inside she took a quick shower and changed her clothes before heading to her work room.

Once she was ready she opened up the door to pull out the cart on which the old man's body had been laid. She placed the body on the counter and covered it with a cloth before removing the clothes that the man had worn previously. She preferred to wash the bodies beneath the cloth so that she could respect the person's body even in death. Once she had washed she pulled on the clothes that the deceased's family had sent so that they could be clothed for their coffin. Once that was done she pulled out some brushes and some powder to remove the blueness and the stiffness from the body and make it look like he was just sleeping rather than being ready to be put into the ground.

She worked quickly and efficiently to finish on time. The funeral procession was happening this evening and she wanted to be done on time. Once everything was in place she stood back and gave a nod of satisfaction before calling the front to bring in the coffin.

Two of her co-workers came in. "Misa, fantastic job as always" called Ichiru, a big burly man with a curly mop of hair a top his head. He was carrying one end of the coffin while his partner Maki just nodded in hello. The two of them had worked here even longer than she had and had been great support as she had started.

They lowered the coffin to the ground and gently placed the old man's body into it. Being from a rich and influential family meant that his coffin was made of a rich oak with intricately carved patterns around the edge painted cold. His name had also been carved onto the wood. Misaki read his name to be Richard Rachester Duke of Walker.

Misaki stored in her memory of all the names of the people she had buried. Each was treasured like a friend as she had few friends outside of those she worked with. Most people found her serious and gloomy. Ichiru always said she had a 'grave' sense of humour. It was silly and dark puns like that that had kept her isolated from most other people her age.

Not that she minded really. Being alone with her thoughts was always more peaceful anyways. She watched as Ichiru and Maki lifted the coffin and took it to the hearse. Misaki would join later as the funeral procession was about to end so that she could wish a last farewell to the deceased before covering him in dirt.

Misaki cleaned up before pulling out her suit. Short hair meant that she could fool most people into thinking she was a male, and since she preferred suits anyways it always worked in her favour.

A few hours later she found herself standing nearby the grave and she waited as people began to leave. This had been a larger funeral than most, considering that the man had been more famous and richer than most. Only now were people leaving and she had Ichiru and Maki lower the grave into the ground before they too wished her farewell. It was her turn now. She leaned over the grave and gave Richard a final glance.

"Good bye Richard. I never knew you, and now I never will. But it was a pleasure making your acquaintance in the short time that we did. Best of luck in whatever comes after and rest in peace." She had said similar words before to others who she had had to bury. But she meant them every time.

With a final wave Misaki picked up her shovel and began to drop dirt onto the coffin. She felt a sense of loss with every pile of dirt that she dropped onto the old man but she continued till every last piece of dirt had been dropped back into the hole. She took a deep breath and exhaled again before stepping away from the grave.

In her concentration she hadn't noticed someone still standing there. She turned in surprise to see a young man with blonde hair and sparkling green eyes. He looked to be about her age, thought she'd heard she seemed older since she was pale as a ghost and hung around the dead so much.

"You're a woman" he said as he stepped up to speak to her. Misaki stood still and looked at him curiously as he came closer.

"So?" she asked when he didn't continue.

"I haven't seen any female undertakers before" he said.

Misaki shrugged "Most don't have the stomach for it."

The man nodded then held out his hand "Takumi, Usui Takumi."

Misaki stared at him weirdly and showed him her muddy hands he didn't stop but kept his hand out to her. Misaki hesitated but grasped his hand to shake it.

"Misaki, Ayuzawa Misaki."

"Misaki, can I call you that?" She nodded her assent.

"Well Misaki, if you're free after would you mind going for coffee with me?"

Misaki's eyes bugged out. "You just attended a funeral, now you want to ask a girl out?" she asked incredulously. It didn't bother her that he'd ask, but most people felt down and upset after a funeral.

Takumi chuckled slightly "No no, its not a date per se, I just wanted to get something to eat and I didn't want to go to the party room where all those fakers who claimed to love my grandfather will stand there and eat food gossiping and already moving on. And you're an undertaker, I thought you'd make interesting company."

Misaki eyed him "You're not telling me something, why are you really asking me?"

"Yours was the most sincere goodbye and best wishes to my grandfather. So I wanted to thank you."

Misaki nodded. "My change of clothes is at the funeral home, I brought my truck, come with me and from there we can head out."

Takumi nodded and followed her to her truck. She climbed in and opened the door for Takumi. The two sat in companionable silence throughout the trip, neither one being particularly talkative. After Misaki had gotten ready, her clothes consisting of a regular pair of jeans and a t-shirt she joined Takumi in her truck again.

"So where to?" She asked.

"You can pick."

Misaki thought for a moment and decided to head towards a quiet and homely sushi place. She knew everyone here and they knew and liked her so it would be comfortable. Once inside Takumi looked out of place in his formal wear but he didn't seem to be bothered as the two of them took a seat in a private booth.

They both ordered and while they waited for their meal Misaki asked "So… what do you want to talk about?"

Takumi thought for a moment, "Anything and everything I guess."

Misaki agreed and began the conversation.

* * *

 _ **That's all for now folks, hope you liked it, I'll try to update this one at least more often so you have some little stuff to read that doesn't need to be continued unlike JD and TOE. Till next time.**_

 _ **Peace Out**_

 _ **PWNAGENINJA**_


	3. Balto

**HELLO?! ANYONE THERE?!**

 **Damn its been a while. Forgive me for that everyone. Probably should have made an official hiatus but I thought I'd be able to write, university proved me wrong. So I know you all have questions for JD and I'll answer that at the END of this chapter :p evil I know. So this was not exactly a request but it was for one of my readers who told me about their dog Taco. It's based off of that.**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

 **Title:** Balto

 **Characters:** Misaki A., Takumi U.

 **Summary** : Misaki has lost a very dear friend. Takumi's there to comfort her.

 **This chapter is dedicated to Snivy8276**

RIP Taco.

Misaki gazed unseeingly into the distance from her perch on the railing. Her feet were dangling loosely in front of her not catching onto anything. The only thing that kept her from falling forward and off into the bushes and trees below was her grip on the railings by her hands.

She knew that it would happen someday. But to think that it happened now and the way that it did broke her heart. He was her playmate since she was a child and her confidant when everything went to pieces. The one who kept her sane when many important people stepped out of her life and was there to celebrate when some came back.

Misaki sighed. She was too lost for tears and too shocked still to really comprehend and accept what had happened. She felt her phone vibrate but she ignored it and kept gazing out into the distance. Sure support from people was great, but sometimes she just wanted to be alone. This was one of those times.

She remained lost in her thoughts and stared unseeing out into the distance for a lot longer than she had expected. The sun was beginning to set and the light pink rays filled the sky intermingled with bright orange red and a tinge of dark blue as the sky began to darken.

Only now was she disturbed by a presence approaching behind her. She whipped her head around to see who was approaching her. No one knew where this was so she had to make sure it wasn't a creeper. She was surprised to see Takumi coming towards her.

"Misaki" he greeted quietly, his expression neutral but his eyes speaking volumes. They showed concern, relief, care and love.

Misaki gave him a weak smile. Her eyes that were so dry throughout the day began to water slightly at the sight of him. Takumi noticed and quickened his pace to receive Misaki in a hug as she reached forward for him. He gently pulled her forward and off the railing. She pressed her face into the junction between his neck and shoulder as her tears began to leak out.

Takumi felt his sweater becoming wet as Misaki's tears seeped into his clothes. She didn't make a sound but her shoulders were shaking slightly and Takumi pulled her tighter against him. He placed his chin above her head as he held her close.

The two remained like that as Misaki emptied out the tears that she held back the entire time. Takumi said nothing but held her close and firm, so she could feel him holding her up. A few minutes passed before Misaki stopped shaking and she shifted her head slightly and sniffled.

Takumi pulled out a handkerchief from his back pocket and handed it to Misaki to clean her face. He still had his left arm around her shoulder not letting her go. Misaki took the handkerchief and wiped her eyes and then her nose. She leaned her head against his chest. Takumi felt rather than heard her soft giggle.

"What?" he whispered into her ear.

"Your sweater is wet, its making me wet too."

Takumi chuckled but didn't let go and Misaki didn't move either despite getting wet. After a moment she sighed and pulled her head back. She placed a soft kiss on Takumi's cheek at the edge of his mouth.

"Thank you" she whispered softly.

Takumi looked into her eyes and smiled softly "Always"

Misaki pulled back and Takumi removed his arms from around her before he could turn away though, Misaki intertwined her fingers with his and then walked forward pulling him along.

"How did you find me?" she asked without looking back at him.

Takumi snorted "Do you honestly think I wouldn't know about this place? You come here every time you're upset. I was bound to figure it out eventually."

Misaki didn't say anything but she tightened her hold on his hand. The two headed back down to the main trail. Misaki was about to head to the bus stop but Takumi pulled her towards the rest of the trail. It passed through a small park and headed towards a pond. They continued in silence till they arrived to the pond. There was a small bench under the trees to which Takumi headed towards. He took a seat and gestured for Misaki to sit to his right so that their hands were still linked.

Misaki sat down beside him and immediately snuggled into his side leaning her head on his shoulder. She realized that earlier what she had thought about comfort from people wasn't exactly accurate. She wanted to be away from people at times but even more than that, she wanted to be with Takumi. His comfort helped her more than the entire day she spent alone.

"Takumi…"

"Hmm?"

"I miss him."

Takumi turned his head and placed a kiss on Misaki's hair. "I know."

"I wish I had been more careful."

"It wasn't your fault Misaki. It was the driver that wasn't looking where he was going."

Misaki said nothing but Takumi knew it hadn't made a difference. He sighed and used his left arm to rub her arm comfortingly.

"Don't worry Misa, Balto's up there in dog heaven somewhere nosing around and bothering all the other dogs."

Misaki chuckled slightly at how corny that was.

"And even if he isn't, at least you gave him the best life a dog could ever wish for."

At this Misaki nodded her head, albeit slowly. Takumi smiled, at last he had gotten through to her.

"Shall we head home? Balto jr. will be wondering where we are."

Misaki looked up and smiled properly for the first time "He's probably hungry and is sitting on the sofa howling at the door."

"Probably."

Misaki lifted her head and stood up, Takumi stood up beside her and the two turned back the way they came.

Misaki looked out to the open sky "Good bye Balto" she whispered, "Thank you for being with me all these years. I'll miss you boy."

With that she turned back to the path and headed back with Takumi. She knew she would never forget him as long as she lived, but at least she had all the great memories he had left her with. In the end that was all that mattered.

* * *

 **So a few things. Balto is actually the name of my stuffed animal, based off a movie I watched as a kid (called Balto... ya pretty obvious) check it out its pretty awesome.**

 **NOW TO JD AND TOE! Yes I will be updating soon. Why should you trust me? Well... uh... cause... just... do it ok. Jks I kid. I have somehow got chapters lined up for you guys, specially while I took a break from fanfic and taken the time to actually move the story forward. Hope you all look forward to actually quick updates for once.**

 **Expect them during the winter break.**

 **Peace out**

 **PWNAGENINJA**


	4. Stuck in a Room with 3 and a Half Idiots

**Heheh Like I promised I'm back! :p so here's a request for IamSimplyGIO who requested the gang playing a game. Its not the game you'd expect let's just put that out there. I'll explain more details at the end so you guys can enjoy the story without spoilers. Oh and for IamSimplyGIO, your other request will be done within JD, I have a few more duets planned between the two so it will happen in there. I'll still dedicate it to you tho :)**

 **Anyhoos, ENJOY!**

* * *

 **Title:** Stuck in a Room with 3 ½ Idiots

 **Characters:** Misaki A., Takumi U., Kuuga S., Tora I., Hinata S.

 **Summary:** Misaki and friends decided to try a room escape challenge. 5 of them stuck in one room trying to get out in 45 minutes, it'll be fine. Right?

 **Rating:** K+

 **Dedicated to IamSimplyGIO** , thanks for the request :)

"Why do we have to do the graveyard one" Misaki asked in a plainly annoyed voice.

"What's wrong with it? You scared or something Misa-chan?" Tora teased. Misaki threw him a death glare which silenced his teasing immediately.

"Misaki they should put you in there, your death glare is the scariest thing in the world" Kuuga commented lightly. He too was shut up by the famous death glare.

"It's ok Misaki-chan! You can rely on me if you get scared!" Hinata chirped happily as he puffed his chest out in pride. He only stopped as he noticed the heat coming from the flames of Takumi's jealousy from behind him. "Ehehe, I was just kidding Takumi…" he muttered nervously before trailing off at the murderous aura coming from Takumi.

Misaki was oblivious to this despite her hand holding Takumi's in a death grip as she tried to appear stoic and confident while trembling from fear on the inside. Takumi gave Hinata one more glare before turning to his terrified girlfriend. "It'll be fine Misa, don't worry."

"I don't know what you're talking about Takumi" snapped Misaki angrily.

Takumi rolled his eyes. He didn't even know why she bothered trying to hide her fear. He had found out years ago when their high school went to a trip on the beach. The rest had gone to the hot springs while Misaki had stayed behind not feeling too well. Misaki had found extra tickets that she thought were the actual tickets and she steeled herself for a trek outside to give the group the tickets. On her way there she had been absolutely terrified and Takumi had run into her on his way back catching sight of her weakness. He would never say it to her but she had looked absolutely adorable crying out his name and clinging to him for support to calm down.

Currently he stayed silent but stood closer to Misaki to help her stay a little calmer. The five friends stood in the waiting room as the room was set up again for them to play.

Tora and Kuuga looked around the small room that had been used to welcome them. It had dull lighting, but it was enough for them to make out what was around them. There was a large desk behind which the two moderators sat, one of whom was registering everyone's name, and the other, a male, had gone inside to set up the room.

There were also lockers on the side wall where they could place all their things and a large poster reading the name of the agency. Alongside the back wall there were boards with their backs to the crew lined up in a haphazard manner.

"It's uh… homey…" Kuuga commented uncertainly.

Tora snorted but whispered in a lower tone "No its not, it looks like a setting for a horror film. This entire building does, out at the edge of the city, industrial area with old worn out buildings. The millions of doors lining the thin hallways. I don't blame Misaki for being on edge."

"Don't be so harsh, I've heard good reviews despite the… not so appealing appearance."

"I sure hope so, or else I'm making you pay me for my ticket."

"You're the rich brat here, you should be paying for my ticket!" Kuuga exclaimed.

Tora just ignored him and turned his attention to the front door that had just opened to reveal the second moderator.

"Alright you guys, just follow me and I'll get you started." The man wore a baseball cap of the Toronto Blue Jays with a light grey zipped up sweater over beige cargo pants. He had a tan complexion and stood almost 5' 10", almost reaching the guys heights.

The crew followed him out the door as he led them to the room door. He opened the door, leading into a darkened room with Halloween decorations used to make the room look and feel like a graveyard. Gravestones lined the floor, with names and dates and larger gravestone markers lined the table on the right hand side of the room.

All the way across, at the other end of the room there was a coffin lying closed on a table with skull poles, with multiple skulls piled atop each other, standing guard at either end of the coffin. There were fake bats and birds posted along the wall and spider webs hanging around the corners of the room. As they all piled in, the moderator began the instructions.

"So, how this works is that you have 45 minutes to try and escape the graveyard. All the clues are in this room and each will lead to the next and using them you can solve your way through to find the key that lets you out."

He gestured to a small box with drawers on the table beside the large computer screen reading 45:00. "In this drawer is the emergency key. It's only to be used if something goes wrong." Beside the drawer was a small coffin shaped box and next he pointed to this and lifted the lid. An annoying piercing sound played on a loop until he shut the lid.

"This is the hint call. If you get stuck and can't figure a way out, just pull off the lid and put it on the side until myself of the other moderator come to help you out with wherever you're stuck."

The moderator again walked to the center of the room and gestured to a box in front of the gravestones lined on the table, the ones on the right side of the room without any names and dates. "This is the first box, and thus the first clue, good luck opening it."

He walked back towards the door and pressed the spacebar to start the timer. "Good luck you guys. See you in 45 minutes." With that he opened the door and a stream of light filtered through before it disappeared as he slammed the door shut.

After this moment, there was complete silence and Misaki finally became aware of the chilling sound of wind chimes that filled the room. As she shuddered besides Takumi, one of the skull poles at the back of the room lit up, with a bright red light shining out of the eye sockets of the skulls and gave a loud cackling laugh. Everyone jumped and Misaki curled into Takumi's side as she attempted not to scream.

"Ta…Ta…Takumiiiiii" Misaki whispered. Takumi said nothing but tightened his arm around Misaki to help her calm down. The others didn't even make fun of her for this since they knew how deathly afraid she was of anything haunting or ghostly and that teasing her now, as she was on the brink of tears would be a terrible thing to do.

"Well then…" Kuuga said after a moment of silence "We've already wasted a minute, let's get started with the first box shall we?"

The others nodded and shuffled towards the first box nearest the back of the room. Tora picked up the box and examined it closely. It was a black wooden box with a lock at the front of it. The lock was made up of 5 numbers. "There's nothing written on the box" he commented as he flipped the box over to look for a clue underneath the box but found none.

"So we've got to find the combination for this lock?" Hinata asked as he leaned over Tora's shoulder to peer at the box.

"Yep, but we're gonna have to figure out how to get the combination in the first place."

Takumi looked at it thoughtfully before reaching out with the hand that wasn't holding Misaki and he lifted the box up revealing a clue at the bottom.

"Well that was easy" he deadpanned.

Kuuga took the box from Takumi and began to read the clue out "They smile with ghastly grins as they rejoice in your misery. They are the remains of those who have left this world behind. Which of them holds the answer for the next clue?"

"So its obviously talking about skulls" Tora mused.

By this time Misaki had gained at least some control of her fear, despite the slight jumps at the quiet noises and the chilly breath that seemed to blow at the back of her neck once in a while. "Tora go look at the pole of skulls on the right of the coffin, Kuuga you look at the other pole, Hinata look at the ones at the back of the room. Takumi, since you're the tallest you'll pull the ones on the wall and check behind them" she commanded in an almost normal voice.

The others obeyed and went to check the respective skulls, Misaki tailed behind Takumi never once letting go of his hand. She could try and make her voice sound normal, but she knew she would lose all composure if she let go of Takumi's hand. He was the only thing grounding her right now.

Takumi used his free hand to reach up and lift the skull portraits on the wall and he checked behind it. There was nothing there and he placed it back disappointed.

"Let's try the other one" Misaki suggested as this time she led the two of them to the other side of the room. Before she could lift it off the wall she heard Shintani yell "I got it!"

Misaki let go of the skull and the portrait fell back against the wall with an unexpectedly loud thump which made her fall back against Takumi as she stumbled to get away from the loud sound. Takumi, also not expecting Misaki's reaction fell backwards and he landed painfully on the floor.

"Ow… Misa get off" Takumi groaned as Misaki's elbow dug painfully into his side. Misaki jumped up gracefully and dusted herself off lightly before helping Takumi stand up. Her cheeks were dusted with red as she was embarrassed by her reaction.

She hated how weak she was against scary things, but no matter how much she tried she could never seem to get over it. Takumi patted her head lightly before pulling her to where the others were. They hadn't noticed what had happened as they were all too focused watching Hinata enter the 5-digit code he had found behind the skulls.

Tora and Kuuga were huddled in a tight circle, their shoulders touching Hinata's as they watched him carefully input the code. Hinata took a breath before yanking on the lock. "YES!" he cheered as the lock snapped open on his first try.

Tora beat him to the box as he snapped it open under Hinata's pouting face and pulled out the next clue. "Toraaaaa that was my clue!" he whined.

Tora ignored him and read out the next clue instead "The tools of the trade are the most important for any successful undertaker. To reach the tools, follow the bats." Underneath this clue was an illustration of a fence.

Tora looked at it curiously before he handed it around to the others. Hinata reached for it first and he quickly scanned the paper but blinked confusedly as he saw the image at the bottom. "How's that supposed to help?" he asked as he passed the paper onto Kuuga.

Kuuga just shrugged his shoulders as he could make no head or tail of the final image as he passed the paper on to the golden duo. Misaki received the slip of paper and held it up for both her and Takumi to see.

"Before we work the rest of the clue out, let's find out where the 'tools' are. Maybe that'll help us frame the clue better" Misaki suggested, the leader even though she was no longer the president.

Takumi pulled her arm lightly and pointed to a metal box beside a shovel that stood beside coffin. "There it is, the tools, whatever they may be have to be in there. It's right beside a shovel too, which is another 'tool of the trade'."

Kuuga nodded and walked to the metal container, and surely enough there was another 5-digit lock resting on the opening clasp. "Well then, now we have to follow the bats to open it? How on earth does that work?"

"It'd be stupid to look behind every bat in the room, its got to be something with that fence looking thing" Tora suggested.

None of them understood what it meant, but before they could discuss it further they noticed Hinata looking behind them to the wall behind the coffins. He turned his head quizzically with a frown on his face. "There's a fence, and its got bats on it" he pointed out with a slight frown on his face.

The others followed suit and suddenly Misaki's eyes lit up with understanding. "That's it!" she said at the same time as Takumi. The two looked at each other with matching grins before letting go of their hands so Misaki could input the number of the combination. Tora and Kuuga stared at the two as if they were insane.

"3, 2, 5, 6, 0" Takumi recited. Misaki entered the number into the combination and yanked on it determinedly. The lock snapped open with a satisfying click.

Misaki smiled happily as she pulled off the lock and opened the metal box. Inside was another clue and she pulled it out and smoothed it over to look at it.

"How the hell did you get that?" Tora asked looking between a distracted Misaki and a smug Takumi.

"It was obvious" Takumi said in the most obnoxious voice possible. "The fence had bats on it, and there's five sections of the fence, each section split by the larger metal pole with the decoration on top. Five sections, five digits used to unlock the box. And in each section there's a certain number of bats. It did say to follow the bats, so if you count the number of bats in each section of the fence you get the five numbers you need to open the lock. Simple right?" he asked with a smug smirk.

Tora practically growled at his friend as Kuuga glared daggers. Takumi was so infuriating when he wanted to be. And he was very good at treating people like idiots. It wasn't the world's fault he was born such a genius; how could they possibly compare to someone like him?

"You're insufferable" Kuuga said.

"I know" Takumi responded.

"Don't look so ok with it! That's not a good thing" Tora snapped.

"You're just upset that you're an idiot."

"I am not an idiot!"

"Yes you are, you were too stupid to figure out the riddle"

"I was not! If you two hadn't said it out loud I was about to figure it out too!"

"Sure you were" Takumi goaded.

Tora lifted his hands to Takumi's shoulders and shook him back and forth like a ragdoll. By this time Misaki had had enough of the idiots so she smacked them both on the head for being so immature.

"What are you, five? I mean honestly. Who cares who got it first, in fact, if it weren't for Hinata's sharp eyes, we wouldn't have noticed it at all. So its really all thanks to Hinata in the first place."

Hinata's eyes took on a bright sparkle and his tail wagged back and forth happily as he revelled in Misaki's praise.

"His… tail…" Kuuga shook his head and the image was gone, for some reason he could always see an imaginary tail behind Hinata when Misaki praised him. Even though Hinata was dating Suzuna, Misaki's sister, as his first love, Misaki's words would always be special to him.

"I was just seeing things" Tora assured himself as he too had seen the strange tail behind Hinata.

Misaki ignored them and lay out the paper on the table. "So, this clue is clearly for the second box, since the background is a grave with a gargoyle, and this box is in front of a gravestone with a gargoyle on it as well. The other things… well there's five items on this one as well, and there's five digits required for the lock."

Kuuga looked over her shoulder and pointed at the second object "Hey that's a shovel, and I think the one below is a bird, and then… a… skeleton?"

Misaki nodded "Yup, the first one is a bat and the last one… sort of squiggly line. Either way… I think we have to count the number of each item and that will probably be the combination for this lock."

The others nodded, this made sense since it was a lock with numbers and they had seen almost all the items before.

"Alright, so first is a bat, how many bats do we have? And I'm assuming this is not including the little ones on the poles since there'd be too many bats if we included them" Kuuga reasoned as he reached for the lock.

Hinata quickly scanned the room and called out "There's 3 bats."

Kuuga nodded and entered the number, "There's only one shovel right?" he asked nodding to the one leaned beside the tool box.

"Yup" Tora confirmed.

"Alright, uhm next is birds."

This time Takumi went around to check the room to look for the birds. "Well, there's three birds that I can see, but I feel like those two puffy things on the wall are also birds." He walked towards the two balls of fluff on the wall and poked them to see if there was something inside. Nestled within each was a creepy looking skeleton bird with gaping mouths. Takumi shuddered and turned away.

"Ya, they're birds, that makes 5 birds."

Kuuga entered the number in.

"How many skeletons?" Kuuga asked next.

Misaki grimaced but moved away from the group to count the skeletons around. The room wasn't as bad as she had thought, now that she was getting used to it, she could almost handle it. Some of the creepy things still made her shiver but she was ok for now.

"There's 4 skeletons" Misaki called as she finished her check of the room.

"Alright, almost done!" Kuuga cheered. "Now all that's left is this weird squiggly line, what the hell is that?"

The others shrugged, none of them had seen it around the room during their search. They all split up and began to comb the room for the last item. Kuuga stared at the paper as he tried to figure it out. A thought came to mind and he checked the lock, yep there was a 0 in the fifth position, it might just work…

Kuuga slid the last digit to zero and pulled on the lock. "Yes!" he cheered as the lock snapped open. The others came rushing back at his cheer and came to peer over his shoulder to see what he had found.

"There's none of that item, so that means 0!" he explained quickly as he pulled open the box and pulled out the next clue.

This time he handed it to Hinata to read aloud. Hinata smiled happily as he was given the paper and he cleared his throat importantly before beginning to read the clue. "All souls must pass from this world, some were young, and some were old. No matter male of female, all must head to their final rest. They crossed the river one by one, men went first, and then the women, young to old. Each lay in rest before death roused them for the end."

"What on earth…" Tora said softly. "That made no sense."

"Which one does it even want us to solve for?" Hinata asked looking confused.

"Its like we have to put something in order" Takumi stated, his brow furrowed and arms crossed across his chest.

"Men first…" Misaki said softly as her eyes caught on something, "Then the women…" she recited. She left the group and walked towards the tomb stones that were leaning against the wall and gazed at them. There were names of men and women with the dates that they died.

Takumi followed after her and it clicked once he too scanned the tomb stones. "Guys look at this!" he called excitedly.

The other three came over and soon reached their own conclusions before smiling in relief at finding the clue.

"Yesssss! Good job Misaki-chan!" Hinata cheered as he leaned over to give her a quick hug.

Takumi kept his glare at him the entire time until Hinata let go. "Eheh, sorry Takumi, it was a spur of the moment."

Kuuga and Tora both snickered at the little fight, if it could be called that if Takumi had already won, that went on between the two. It happened every time, Hinata was a very touchy feely person, and he tended to hug or high five or something along those lines the person he was around. And he had grown up with Misaki so he was more comfortable around her as it was. And obviously, Misaki was also comfortable around him, so she never responded to his spontaneous bouts of physical contact. Takumi always did though. It was actually quite funny to watch Takumi burst into flames looking like Hades himself as he glared down Hinata with promise of punishment in his eyes and Hinata cowering in fear.

Misaki as usual, ignored the mini fight that went on behind her, she was used to it by now. As much as it annoyed Takumi, Hinata was like a brother to her, to hug him or get hugs from him were natural, and Takumi would just have to get used to it. Annoyingly it was taking him quite some time, so until then, she was stuck with this.

"So… we first have to split the names into male and female" Misaki said, continuing her train of thought.

"And then by their ages in each group?" Kuuga added.

"Yep, I'd think so" she responded.

Misaki and Tora bent down and began to split the names apart, Misaki kept the male names on the left and Tora moved the female names to the right. The two made quick work, pausing only at a few ambiguous names that were so different that it took them a moment to determine which was male and which was female.

"Alright, Takumi get over here and use that overly large brain of yours to calculate the youngest to oldest" Kuuga ordered as he stood back to watch the genius at work.

Takumi finally let go of his death glare on poor Hinata, who was by now a puddle of melted goop on the floor which he had been disintegrated into by the lasers from Takumi's eyes.

Takumi sat down and began ordering the females from youngest to oldest, by subtracting the years of their death by the years of their birth. By the time he was done, Misaki had also almost finished her pile. She was just comparing the last two male names before placing them in their respective positions.

"Alright, so now what?" Takumi asked, looking to Misaki for instruction. Misaki didn't respond but scrutinised the fake tombstones instead.

She picked one up from the middle and turned it around in her hand just as she was about to put it down Tora stopped her "Wait Misaki, flip it over." He had seen a small marking on the back of the stone and he wanted to check what it was.

Misaki flipped the tombstone over ( **A/N The tombstones are like… thick cardboard… thingies ish… no more wooden but that wood at the back of a clipboard. Yes that thing! So not real tombstones, ok back to Misaki)**. On the back of the tombstone there was a small arrow at the bottom pointing upwards.

"Ohh it's for a directional lock!" Misaki exclaimed in surprise. She only recognized it since she had seen it on the final box in the line up on the table. "The arrows tell you which direction you should push the lock, like four points on the compass. Good catch Tora."

Misaki began flipping all the male tombstones over on the vertical and Takumi did the same with the female tombstones. "Alright Tora, since you saw it you'll be putting the combination in."

"But which lock is it?" He asked.

Misaki stared back at him deep in thought. She knew it had something to do with the poem, but she wasn't sure what exactly. Takumi took the clue from Hinata and re-read it. The room remained in silence for a moment before it was broken again by the skulls laughter. They all jumped and turned to glare at the inanimate object. As he was about to turn his head back to the clue, Takumi noted the coffin.

The poem did say something about rest… "Hmm" Takumi stood up and walked over to the coffin. He lifted the wooden lid and inside lay another wooden box with a cross above it. The box had a lock and it was another directional lock. "I found it. It's this box in the coffin" he called out.

"Woohoo! You did it Takkun!" Hinata cheered. The others congratulated him as well and Misaki began reading out the directions so that Takumi could enter them in.

"Alright you ready Takumi?" Takumi nodded, Misaki continued "Up, down, down, left, up, right, down, left, right, up."

Not all of the tombstones had arrows on them so the code only required 10 directions. Takumi sucked in a breath before pulling on the lock it snapped open and he let out a breathless laugh in relief. The game was turning out to be a lot more fun than he had expected, he was even excited to try and find the way out now.

Takumi pulled out the lock and opened the lid. Inside was a clock with symbols aligned with the numbers of the clock.

"What is it?" Misaki asked as Takumi hadn't turned around and shown the others what he had found yet.

"A clock" he answered back, letting confusion colour his tone.

"What…"

"Ya, that's what I thought too."

Misaki frowned and stood up to join Takumi, the others had already crowded around him to see what he held in his hands. Tora moved back when Misaki poked him in the back to let her through. Misaki reached for the clock from Takumi and he handed it to her.

Misaki lifted the clock to gaze at the symbols, "They look like Hieroglyph, the ancient Egyptian script. I don't know if that makes a difference… but each symbol is paired with a number."

"Maybe it's a cipher?" Kuuga suggested.

Tora nodded "It seems like it, but we weren't given a code to crack, what's the point then?"

"Maybe its somewhere else in the room?" Hinata suggested.

Misaki bit her lip before setting the clock to the side. "Alright then… looks like we search the room again. Look for something with an Egyptian motif, that'll probably help."

The others agreed and split up. Misaki and Takumi searched around the coffin while Tora and Kuuga searched around the boxes on the table, Hinata, since he had the best vision was everywhere. He searched every nook and cranny, anything that seemed like it might have something in it. The time began to tick down until they only had 10 minutes left to try and escape the room.

Misaki grumbled in annoyance and slammed the lid of the box closed when she had found nothing around it. In her anger, she had slammed the lid down very hard and the cross at the top of the box cracked open.

It turned out that the cross sticking out the top was a box of its own with a small piece of rolled up paper inside it. Misaki gasped in surprise and quickly reached out to grab the paper. She smoothed it out and could make out 5 symbols on the page that looked like Hieroglyphs. "Guys!" she called out excitedly.

The others turned towards her and reached her quickly to see what she had found. Misaki triumphantly held out the paper with the code on it. "It's the code to the next box! There's five symbols, and we already know each symbol relates to a number, so its another 5-digit lock. And since Tora and Kuuga found a box with the Egyptian gods drawn on them, we already know which one it is!"

The others cheered and quickly walked to the third box on the table. This time Tora entered in the combination while Kuuga converted the symbols to numbers using the clock. Tora pulled on the lock and it snapped open.

"Alright!" Tora cheered. He opened the box and pulled out another clue. He quickly read it out. They had 9 minutes left. "He died at 51."

"That's it?" Misaki asked.

"Yeh, and since there's no other boxes I'm assuming its pointing to the next box, which is the fourth box."

Misaki turned away and turned to the tombstones she had left on the ground. She flipped all the male ones and quickly scanned them to find the one that had died at age 51.

"Matt!" she called out after a few moments. Kuuga was closest to the next box and he found that it had letters instead of numbers.

"We guessed right about it being this box" he called as he entered the name Matt into the lock. He pulled on it and it again snapped open. This time there was a compass, the north needle was pointing to the door. Alongside the compass there was a paper with items on it.

He handed the paper and compass to Misaki to examine.

"I'm pretty sure we have to use the compass and find out what directions each of the items on this list are. So the first item, well it seems like the coffin, and according to the compass its south, so down?"

Hinata nodded and reached for the last box on the table. It was the second directional lock. He pushed down on it in the direction Misaki had indicated.

Misaki scanned the other items, "Alright so next is a tombstone, so east, meaning right. Then hmm a fence, again south so down. Bats, south, so down again, and skeleton which is on the west, so left and the last one is a frame… that's west, so another left."

Hinata entered each direction and pulled on the lock, it snapped open and they all sighed a sigh of relief. They were almost done and there were only 5 minutes left.

Hinata pulled open the box and inside it was a key with one last clue. "Congratulations travelers, you're almost at the end of your journey. All that's left is to find the last box that holds the key to the exit. Good luck and see you at the other end."

"That one's easy" Takumi deadpanned. He held his hand out for the key and Hinata handed it to him. He led them all to tool box and to the left was a small table hidden behind large pikes stuck to the ground. "The last box is in there."

Takumi pointed to a small almost unnoticeable box at the corner of the table. He reached through the pikes, careful not to scrape them and he caught hold of the small box. He pulled it out and used the key on the box. It snapped open to reveal an even smaller box with a puzzle on the lid.

Takumi swore as he looked at the time, 3 minutes left. The box was one of those where you had to place all the pieces in the correct place to create a picture. It was a 9x9 picture with 8 pieces, so the last space was to help move the small pieces around to complete the picture.

"Sorry guys I'll take this one. It'll take me a bit." Takumi concentrated and quickly began to move the pieces around the board. He good hear everyone's fast breathing as they watched him hoping he would be able to get the clue done in time.

He had done Rubik's cubes as a child and had gotten really good at them, this puzzle was similar, but it had been forever since he had last solved one so it would take him longer than it should have.

There was a minute left by the time Takumi slipped the final piece in place and the little box popped open. Inside was an ornate looking key that matched the key hole at the front door. He pulled out the key while grinning in relief. He did not want to know what would happen if they could not make it to the end time. The moderators would probably spring something scary on them and he didn't think any of them could handle it at the moment.

Takumi handed the ornate key to Misaki. Misaki smiled in relief and rushed to the door and placed the key in and turning it in the lock. The lock opened up and Misaki pulled on the latch and twisted the knob. Bright light streamed into the room and everyone squinted as the light assaulted their eyes.

"We did it!" Misaki cheered as she stepped out of the door with her arms raised. The others followed her out and walked back to the first room they were in. The moderators were sitting at the desk waiting for them.

"Congratulations! You've made it past the graveyard, one of the 37% that actually do."

"37% only?" Kuuga asked in surprise as e walked into the room and headed to the lockers to get his cell phone and his winter gear that he had stored in before they had gone into the room.

"Yes, some parts of the challenge are quite difficult" The male moderator said as he stood up from behind the desk.

"So now that you're here, we'd like to take a picture of you guys being here for our Facebook page. You can use the signs behind you." He gestured to the signs that they had seen as they had first come in. Tora turned one of the signs over to read what it said.

"Leader of the pack" he read aloud "Haha, that's perfect for you Misa." He stood up and handed the sign to Misaki.

Misaki rolled her eyes but took the sign from him. The others looked through the sings and in the end Takumi was forced to hold the 'I was the smartest cookie sign', Tora held the 'I was smartre', Kuuga 'I'm just glad I'm alive' and Hinata 'We made it!'.

They all posed for the camera holding their signs up. The moderator took the picture and they all bid him goodbye as they headed out to their car. It had been Tora's turn to drive and so they had all come in his Nissan Altima. Tora and Kuuga sat in the front while Misaki, Takumi, and Hinata in the back. Takumi sat in the middle so he could sit beside Misaki.

"Well… that was fun" Misaki admitted as they all drove out of the complex. "Not as bad as I had expected, though that skull at the start…"

Takumi chuckled "I can't blame you, that was pretty scary."

"Let's do a haunted house next time!" Hinata said excitedly. "It's my turn to pick and I've heard of a really good one near by!"

Misaki glared evilly at Hinata while Tora and Kuuga roared with laughter at the front. These friend game days were turning out to be way worse than she had expected.

* * *

 **Sooooooo hope you liked it. This is actually based on something I did this past winter break with my cousins. We all went out and did the room escape challenge. The clues are based off of the actual game but are not exactly the same. And yes the description of the place is actually like that. What was worse is that we couldn't even find the building and it was a freezing day and then we went inside and were like oh man what's this horror movie abandoned building like place. But we really enjoyed it. Even tho we actually died in there (couldn't get the key to get out of the graveyard).**

 **I would highly highly recommend this to try out. its tons of fun and uh ya :) Hope you liked the game I chose, maybe I'll do a regular board game for the fun of it someday. But for now, what should I update next? so many stories to choose from :p You'll get it soon what ever it is :D**

 **Peace out**

 **PWNAGENINJA**


	5. Passerby Part 1 (TOE mini-story)

**Hey guys! So I know I promised a JD update soon but this idea came into my head and I kept at it all weeks to try and finish it for you guys. So its my first TOE mini-chapter. Something related to events that happened before the story but has already been important for the story now and will be important later on. Soooo it's probably a good idea to read XD. I mean you totally don't have to... but it'd be nice if you could :p**

 **Either way, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Title** : Passerby Part 1 (TOE mini chapter)

 **Characters:** Misaki A. and Tora I.

 **Summary:** Tora had met Misaki before the day she took him on a race. Even though he himself didn't understand why he trusted her in the first place. There was a reason why he sat in her car and invited her for lunch. Friendships aren't made in a day you know.

 **Rating:** T

 **Dedicated to:** Rebecca (Guest) and Padfoot Starfyre

 **Thanks for helping me figure out what to do with the gaps guys**

Little Tora ran down the street, his arms swinging freely by his side. He had escaped from the boring lessons for the day and was out freely roaming the city. Tokyo was an incredible city and it would be a shame for him not to be able to explore it. Especially when all the other little kids were running back from their regular schools to meet their parents.

Tora couldn't even remember the last time he saw his. They were always off somewhere or another being busy being the big Igarashi mascots that they were. I mean sure they loved him, they did always give him whatever he wanted, but they sucked at actually being around him. Though mama was nice once in a while when she was actually home. She did read Little Tora stories from time to time before bed.

But papa was always a bit scary. Just being around him made Tora stand straighter and taller to stand in attention like a soldier does. But once in a while papa always patted his head. Whenever he did well or pleased him, papa would come down and pat his head and tell him that he was such a good boy. Those were the moments Tora lived for.

For now, though, the two were off to make some business deal in Europe or wherever, so Tora was free to fool around and bother his tutors and just make a mess of things. It was also why he took the opportunity to escape and enjoy the day. He had even taken some money with him to buy some treats while he was out.

Tora ran down the sidewalk and ran head first into an older boy who was around 12 years old. About 5 years older than Tora himself.

"Watch it you little runt!" the angry boy called out. He and his friends turned to face Tora with intimidating glares.

"Sorry…" Tora called out as he tried to bypass the bigger boys.

"Hey hey, where do you think you're going?" One of the boys called out.

"Ya, don't you have any manners? You've got to show us some respect you know. We are your seniors after all." The one who got hit said.

"Uhm… I said sorry, what else do you want me to do?" Tora asked looking very confused. These older boys were incredibly rude he thought to himself. Its not like he hurt them too much. And he did say sorry. His manners tutor taught him that if he did something wrong he should apologize for it and then move on. That's what he did, so why didn't these boys get it.

"You've got to give us your money runt! To pay back for hurting me!" The one who was hit said.

"But I said sorry, did your tutor not teach you that that's what you say when you do something wrong?"

"Hahahah, this brat has a tutor, must be a rich daddy's boy right?" one of the other boys called out.

"If you guys want you can learn from my tutor too, she's nice but a little strict. She'll teach you all the right manners that you don't have" Little Tora said innocently.

The older boys scowled "What're you saying! That we don't have manners! Screw this, we'll show you who doesn't have manners. Stupid little brat!"

The boys took a menacing step towards him. Tora frightened took a step back before turning on his heel and booking it down the street. He had no idea where he was going but he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him.

"AFTER HIM!" the leader called and the 5 boys charged after him.

Tora ran and ran before he arrived in at a dead end. He turned around, hoping to make a break for it and to make up for his mistake, but the older boys had caught up to him by this time.

They were panting and were out of breath, especially the one whom Tora had run into and now seemed to also be their leader. He was a heavy set boy with short black hair that stuck to his face because of sweat.

"Now… we've… got… you!" he wheezed out.

Tora whimpered as the boys covered the entrance to the alleyway. His knees were knocking together so hard he could hear them and he almost slipped down to the floor in fear. What was wrong with these boys! Didn't they have any manners at all? Tora thought fearfully as they attempted to regain their breath.

"Now that… you've… pissed me off… I'm gonna… have to… beat you up… brat!" panted the leader as he raised his hand to lunge at Tora.

At that moment though, a rock came flying towards his hand at brutal force. He pulled back yelling in pain as it slit through his knuckles and the back of his palm. The boy could also feel the shock pass through his arm at the force of the hit.

He looked up and looked around wildly for the source of the attack.

"You're really stupid Matsumoto" came a strong voice from above Tora. Tora swivelled his head around to see a young girl about his age standing above the dumpster that was behind him. He hadn't even heard her come.

The leader, Matsumoto it seemed his name was, snarled when he saw the girl. "You!" he screeched in a high pitch voice.

Tora could see that although he tried to hold it together, the fear was written all over his face. "You know this is my territory Matsumoto, and I've beat you and your stupid friends up a billion times before. Why on earth would you be so stupid as to waltz right in?" the girl asked.

Tora couldn't believe such harsh words could come from a cute looking girl who looked even more delicate than him.

"I uh… I…" Matsumoto stumbled for words.

"Leave now. Or else I'll get my army to pelt you with rocks until it breaks your skull" The girl threatened in a cold voice. It was obvious to see that she meant it.

The five boys were so afraid that they turned on their heel and sprinted down the alley and onto the main street. The young girl snorted and jumped down from the dumpster and landed beside Tora.

"You're stupid too you know. What's a rich boy like you doing out in the rough neighborhoods? You're just asking for trouble" the girl scolded.

Tora was too in awe of her to say anything. The girl was probably around his age standing a bit shorter than him. She was scrawny and her clothes were in horrible shape being tattered and roughed up and she had dried blood on her knees and dirt streaked across her face. In all, she looked like a street orphan, but he could tell that she wasn't. Something about her confidence and the way she held herself made him realize that whoever had brought her up, had brought her up to have a lot of confidence.

Besides, she had cute little stud earrings on, and an orphan couldn't have gotten those. It seemed her clothes were only in disarray because she liked to run around the streets and play rough games. How un-lady-like Tora thought to himself.

"What're you staring at rich boy? I'm not gonna hurt you. If I was I would have done so already."

"I uh…"

"What? Spit it out already" The young girl then turned away from Tora and called out to the unseen people above her "Oh, you guys can go now, we'll meet again tomorrow, we're done for the day."

"Alright, bye Misa!" a chorus of voices called. There were probably 20 of them, the girl wasn't kidding when she said she had an army.

A soft and cute looking girl skipped to Misaki's side followed by a sullen looking boy with blonde hair.

"Great job Misa-chan! You scared away those scary bullies!" the little girl congratulated.

"Hah, that's only cause she had all of us waiting there to strike. So useless on your own Misaki" the little boy taunted.

The girl, it seemed Misaki was her name, turned to glare at the blonde boy. Tora couldn't see her glare but he saw the blonde boy cower slightly due to its intensity. "I was just kidding…" he muttered under his breath and Misaki turned away from him.

"Who are you?" Tora finally managed.

Misaki frowned at him "How rude, don't you know you're supposed to introduce yourself before you ask someone else for their name? Did your parents never teach you manners rich boy?"

Tora stared dumbfounded at Misaki. She was right, how could he forget something so simple that his tutor had taught him. "I'm sorry, my name is Tora Igarashi, and you are?" he asked politely.

"Misaki Ayuzawa, nice to meet you. These are my friends, Sakura-chan and Kuuga-kun."

Tora nodded towards the two of them and they waved back awkwardly.

"So what are you doing here Tora-kun? You shouldn't be running around in this part of the city on your own. Its not safe" Misaki lectured sternly.

"I just wanted to go exploring!" Tora whined "I got away from my tutors for the first time so I wanted to go see what the rest of the world was like."

Misaki stared at him thoughtfully. "You're still stupid for trying to come on your own. You're a little kid, anyone could take advantage of you."

"So are you!" Tora argued petulantly.

Misaki snorted "But I grew up here, I know these streets like the back of my hand, and most of the people here are either my friends or are too scared to mess with me anyways."

"Why?" Tora asked curiously.

"Because I'm the leader of this area. I keep an eye out for all the other kids who join my crew and we watch each other's backs and make sure no one fools around and messes with us. Many of them don't have family, or have families that suck, so we have to take care of each other."

"So… you're their boss… that's so cool!" Tora said with sparkles in his eyes.

Misaki blushed at the compliment "Uh… thanks…" Then she cleared her throat slightly "Anyways Tora-kun, since you're here to explore the city why don't I take you around?"

Tora looked at her surprised, he hadn't expected her to offer but now that she had… "Of course! That would be great!" he agreed thankfully.

Misaki grinned at him and asked the other two if they wanted to join, Sakura had little hearts in her eyes so Kuuga translated that to mean no thanks.

Misaki grabbed Tora's hand "Let's go tora-Tora! I'll take you to the best places in Tokyo!" Misaki yelled excitedly as she led Tora out of the alley and onto the main street.

She expertly weaved through the crowd, actually happily greeting many of the people she passed by. The two ran through, stumbled through and crashed through many more people and objects and animals but they were laughing the entire time as people grumbled to let them pass, many angrily yelled after them but they were too happy and too quick to notice or care.

Misaki first led Tora to a small little candy store that all the children in the area were familiar with. It had a very grungy appearance on the outside with a dusty sign that was probably supposed to light up, but instead it blinked on and off giving anyone who looked at it too long a headache.

Misaki let Tora towards the front door and was about to open it when Tora stopped her. "Wait Misa!"

Misaki turned to look curiously at Tora, "What's wrong tora-Tora?" she asked.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" he asked as he looked nervously around. There were garbage bins and bags all around the area, and he was pretty sure he could see a huge rat grinning out at him through one of the bags. He could imagine the saliva dripping down its huge fangs as it waited for him to step into a huge trap that would catch him and cut him into tiny little pieces and…

"tora-Tora don't be silly" Misaki said breaking his scary train of thought.

"But…"

"Nuh-uh, Candy-store is my friend! You can trust her" Misaki said confidently, now hurry up and let's go!" With that Misaki opened the door and gestured for Tora to follow her inside.

Tora followed quickly after her, too afraid to be left with the giant rat who he was sure was now settled in waiting for his treat to arrive.

Tora expected the worse as he followed Misaki up a narrow set of stairs with paint peeling off the wall and one light bulb that illuminated the entire place with a scary light.

Tora shuddered as he finally reached the level with a large metal door. Misaki pulled it open and Tora was bathed with a warm friendly light. He blinked stupidly for a moment as Misaki held the door open for him waiting for him to enter.

"Come on tora-Tora! Don't you want candy?"

Tora nodded before scrambling quickly into the room after Misaki and the door swung close softly.

Inside was a small area that was stuffed from wall to wall with candy and chocolate and all types of sweets imaginable. Tora's eyes widened in awe as his head swivelled from side to side trying to take it all in.

"How come it looks so bad on the outside?" Tora asked Misaki curiously.

Misaki chuckled "Silly tora-Tora, the store's front is on the other side of the street, but the entrance is on the back because it's a small plaza. It only looks creepy outside right now because the trash hasn't been picked up yet. Normally its not too bad, and if Candy-store wasn't so lazy she'd also clean up out there once in a while."

"Who're you calling lazy you little rascal" someone called out.

Tora turned to see a tall female with long strawberry blonde hair leaning on the counter with her chin in her palm. She had a bored expression on her face as she looked towards the two kids.

"Candy-store!" Misaki called happily. She quickly ran over to her and as was tradition was lifted into the air for a hug.

"Hello to you too Misaki. What trouble have you been causing today? I over heard Matsumoto talking about how his son had come home frightened for some reason. I knew it had something to do with you."

"Hmph, he's just a big fat cry-baby. Always runs in groups and tries to bully all the new kids. I was just teaching him to stay away from my turf and my friends" Misaki said stubbornly.

Candy-store rolled her eyes and she put Misaki gently on the ground. "This protective habit is going to get you into trouble some day" she muttered as she ruffled Misaki's already messy mop of hair.

Misaki just giggled and then gestured for Tora to come forward. "Candy-store meet my friend, this is tora-Tora. I met him today after kicking Matsumoto's butt."

Candy-store looked Tora up and down with the same neutral expression on her face, her eyes though were observing him keenly. "What's a bratty rich kid doing here? Doesn't he have any sense of preservation?"

"I'm exploring…" Tora offered awkwardly, this was the third time that someone had asked him why someone like him would be in this area. Was it really that abnormal?

Candy-store chuckled "Well lucky that you met Misa then. She probably knows the city best with all her running around and causing trouble. You're clearly Sakuya's daughter."

At that Misaki puffed out her chest proudly. Her old man was the greatest and to be compared to him was the greatest compliment she could have received.

"So… what can I get you kids?" Candy-store asked, resuming her bored face.

"I'll let tora-Tora decide, since its his first time."

Tora was then led around the small space and he picked up all of his favourite sweets and even some that he hadn't tried before but Misaki had recommended.

He brought his spoils to the counter and placed it on top and as Candy-store began scanning it all in, he reached in his pocket for his money bag that held his allowance.

"That'll be 1134 yen."

Tora pulled out a 1000-yen note as well as a 500-yen coin and handed it to candy store. He received his change and his bag of candy.

"Thank you" he said with a huge smile on his face. He'd never had so much candy at one time before and was super excited to try it all.

Candy-store smiled softly at his excited face. She reached for something behind the counter and came up with three small bright blue goodie bags and handed two to Misaki and one to Tora.

"Share some with little Suzu ok? Oh and don't tell anyone."

Misaki grinned happily and stuffed the two bags within her pockets and saluted to Candy-store "Yes ma'am" she said.

"Now get out of here and show Mr. Tora around the city. Make sure he gets to try some real ramen ok?"

"Of course! We're gonna have dinner there before he goes home!"

"Good, good. Now go already, my peace and quiet has been disturbed for too long" Candy-store said as she shooed Misaki and Tora out.

The two children, giddy with so much candy in their hands ran out the door giggling and waving out goodbye to Candy-store. She shook her head "Good riddance" she muttered before giving her attention to the book she was reading before she was interrupted.

Misaki led Tora back out on to the main streets and she led him to a slightly better off area than the one she was in before and through a maze of small suburban looking homes. She arrived at house number 1346 and written on the post was 'Ayuzawa'.

"Come on!" Misaki called as she led Tora past the front gate and to the door. The house was old looking but was in pretty good shape, with lots of greenery surrounding it. Someone took very good care of the garden.

Misaki pulled open the door and dropped her shoes at the front before calling "I'm hoooomeee!"

A little girl even smaller Misaki came quickly into the room. She smiled when she saw Misaki "Onee-chan!" she called out and ran to give Misaki a hug. "You're back early. What did you do today?" she asked cheerfully.

Tora stared in awe at the cute little sister and when she noticed Tora she shyly waved at him. Tora smiled and waved back. He'd never had any siblings so he wondered what it was like.

"I'm Tora Igarashi, nice to meet you" he said while holding out his hand.

The little girl eyed him warily before extending hers, while the rest of her still hid behind Misaki, "Suzuna Ayuzawa, nice to meet you too."

The two shook hands as Misaki watched smilingly. Just then an older version of Misaki came into the room "Oh Misaki-chan you're home early. How was the turf today?" she asked mildly.

Just then she noticed Tora "Oh hello there little boy, and who might you be?" she asked while walking up to him and bending down to his level.

"I'm Igarashi Tora, nice to meet you" he said politely.

"Oh what good manners, Misaki you should learn from this young man."

Misaki rolled her eyes "Mom I know my manners! Daddy taught me!" she said proudly.

Misaki's mother chuckled and ruffled her daughter's hair. She was a little whirlwind. "Now you two go get washed up, you're just in time for lunch. Your papa will be here soon too so we'll eat together."

"Ok mom" Misaki called and led Tora to her room, she turned back quickly and slipped a blue bag into Suzuna's hand "For you Suzu" before she headed back to her room.

The room was small and simply furnished, Misaki having not many toys or objects to play with since she spent most of her time outside with her friends. Misaki placed her candy on the dresser and gestured for Tora to do the same. "We can come get these after we're done lunch."

She then directed him to the bathroom where they both cleaned up. Misaki was looking much cleaner by this time so the two headed downstairs for lunch. As Misaki led Tora into the dining room, she was suddenly picked up from behind and was wrapped in a pair of strong arms.

"Daddy!" Misaki screeched happily as she was lifted upside down as her father held her by the ankles.

"Hello my little princess! What trouble have you been causing today?" he said as he gently placed her down on her back.

Misaki giggled and stood up to wrap her arms around her dad's leg. "I haven't been causing any trouble! Just protecting my friends!" she declared.

Sakyua Ayuzawa rubbed his stubble thoughtfully "Oh really now, was it this little boy here?" he asked looking to Tora.

Tora nodded shyly "Nice to meet you, my name is Tora Igarashi."

Sakuya smiled and shook hands with the little boy "Sakuya Ayuzawa, welcome to the Ayuzawa household!" he declared and he led Tora to the dining room.

The entire family sat on the table and began to dig into the delicious food made by Minako Ayuzawa, as Tora learned her name through the conversations. The family was very lively, each making contributions to the conversations and joining in on joking and teasing each other throughout the meal.

Tora was amazed by how bright and warm the worn out little kitchen seemed. It was slightly cramped, and he knew they had to pull a chair from another room to accommodate him, but he didn't feel out of place at all, in fact they continuously welcomed him into the conversation joking, laughing, and making him feel like he was part of the family.

It was completely different from how it was in his own home, where his meals were served in a large dining room that was more often than not empty due to his parents' business responsibilities.

After lunch Misaki ran up to get her candy and dragged Tora outside to continue exploring the city. She got some change from her dad for the ramen after promising to be a good kid and to not be home too late. Misaki and Tora ran through the neighbourhood and Misaki led Tora to the neighbourhood park. Misaki waved hello to some of the children as she passed by the swing set and the slides. Past the park, and the benches and the small walking path she went, Tora following close behind before they arrived to a line of trees and bushes.

Misaki creeped through a small hole under one of the bushes and disappeared. Tora looked around nervously before following her through and entering a small grove with trees all around. Misaki was no where to be seen.

Tora panicked and began to call out her name loudly "Misaki! Misaki! Misaki where are you!"

"Shhhhh" came Misaki's voice quieting him.

Tora stopped yelling but began looking around wildly for the source of the sound. "Where are you?" he whispered.

"Look up!" Misaki's voice called. Tora tilted his head up to see Misaki's face poking out from branches in the tree.

"How'd you get up there so fast?" Tora asked amazed.

Misaki giggled "There's a ladder behind the tree to get up here. Come on! I've got to show you something!" Misaki's head popped behind the tree again.

Tora quickly ran to the other side of the tree and saw the wooden ladder that had been nailed into the trunk of the tree. He scrambled up and was surprised to land on wooden planks when he reached the top.

He looked around in amazement at the mini-treehouse that he had entered. There were no walls, rather there was a think roped fence around the edge making it more of a treetop terrace than a treehouse. There was a small container with a lock on it as well as two waterproof chairs with a miniature table.

"This is my secret place!" Misaki said proudly gesturing around "What do you think?"

"It's so cool!" Tora said with sparkles in his eyes. He knew exactly what he was going to ask his parents for when his birthday arrived.

"Hehehe, daddy helped me build it last year. Suzu and I even had a camping trip here over the summer. I'm pretty sure daddy slept under the tree to keep an eye on us but he didn't bother us."

"What do you have in the box?" Tora asked while eyeing the bright red box with the lock on it.

Misaki put her finger to her lips before reaching under her shirt and pulling out a chain, on it there was a simple pendent with her name on it as well as a small key. She pulled off the chain and unlocked the little box to reveal pads of paper with crayons and coloured pencils, as well as snacks and little toys that could be used while staying at the terrace.

Misaki reached into her pocket and deposited the blue candy bag into the box before closing the lid and locking it up again.

"Wow! You've got everything you need up here!"

"Yup, I'm always prepared! Just like daddy taught me to be!"

"Your dad taught you a lot huh?"

"Yup, he's always taking me and Suzu out to places and showing us new things. And he always teaches us how to take care of ourselves as well!"

Misaki's face practically glowed as she talked about her father. Tora gazed on with a simple smile. He was in awe. Not only of Misaki, but also of her family. They all worked together so well. He wished he was part of it too.

Tora's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe what he had thought. He shook his head to rid himself of the idea before it took hold. What a terrible thing to think, he thought, how could he ever betray his parents like that? Sure they weren't always there, but they had given him everything and they loved him lots too. He could never think something so horrible.

Misaki noticed his worried expression, "Are you alright tora-Tora?"

"Uhm, yes, I'm uh just amazed. It's such an awesome place!"

"You can come visit anytime you know?"

Tora looked to Misaki in surprise "What do you mean? This is your secret base."

"But I showed it to you. That means you're allowed to come whenever you want."

Tora grinned happily at Misaki's invitation "In that case I'll come visit whenever I get the chance!" he promised happily.

Misaki grinned back, "You'd better. I think mom and dad really like you."

"Really?"

"For sure. Mom probably thinks I should learn manners from you."

Tora laughed "I was taught by really good tutors."

"Hmph, are you saying my manners are bad?" Misaki demanded angrily.

"No, no, no, no, no! You're really nice Misa, and super friendly and you're really cool too!"

Misaki blushed "Gee, thanks tora-Tora. You're really fun too you know."

Tora said nothing but grinned in thanks.

"Alright then! It's time to continue our adventure! Let me show you all the cool places I've seen around here!" Misaki cheered before heading down the ladder.

The two spent the whole day running all over the neighbourhoods and through the hidden parts of the city. Misaki took him to little alleyways with interesting sights, she showed him where all the animal families lived, such as the stray cats and she even took him to one that had kittens. Tora had been allowed to pet one under the careful eye of the mother as the kitten purred softly.

He had also been taken to the weird and wacky stores with anime figurines, toys and all types of merchandise that wasn't found in most places. One of the coolest places Misaki had taken him was a store with actual samurai swords. Most of them were for decoration, but the owner, a man named Hideoki-san was nice enough to show him the real swords, the ones that could cut through anything.

Misaki took Tora to her dojo, where she learned a variety of martial arts and he greeted her sensei as well as her seniors, who treated Misaki like a little sister. The two left most of these places with little treats and snacks since everyone adored Misaki so much.

He even got the chance to help an old lady who was trying to make it home. It seemed the oba-san and Misaki were really good friends since Misaki was there to help her everyday whenever she needed it.

The two got a delicious basket of homemade chocolate chip cookies when the lady heard that Tora was visiting. She sent them on their way after smothering them both in a warm hug and waving as the two children ran down the street to their next destination.

By this time the sky was starting to get darker as evening began to settle. "You hungry tora-Tora?" Misaki asked as she felt her stomach rumble.

Tora put a hand on his stomach and felt it vibrate under his hand loudly. In all his fun and running around he hadn't even realized how hungry he was. "Yes, I'm starving!"

"Good, then its perfect time for us to try…"

"Try what?" Tora said as he followed Misaki through a large crowd of home-going people. Many of them were in suits and school uniforms as they headed back from their daily activities.

Misaki didn't answer but kept walking past the huge crowd. Tora almost lost sight of her till she stopped and grabbed his hand in her own. She pulled him through the onslaught of people till they arrived at a small stand with two bright red lanterns on either side and bright red banners around it.

"Ramen!" Misaki called out happily "It'll be your first time right?"

Tora nodded. "So I decided to make it special, standing up and eating ramen is super fun! And this is the best ramen place in all the city!"

"Oh stop exaggerating you. You're just trying to get me to give you free ramen" said a voice from behind the stand.

Tora looked up startled to see a young teenage boy with a chef's hat leaning a hand on the stall. He seemed to be at least 17 with a mop of black hair and a small star tattoo on his right cheek.

"Tsubaki-nii!" Misaki called out happily.

The boy grinned back and picked Misaki up as she came to greet him. "Hey you. Still running around and causing trouble for people huh?"

Misaki pouted "Why does everyone say that! I only cause trouble for those who deserve it!"

Tsubaki snorted and put her down "Sure you do little Misa-hero." He reached over and ruffled her hair till it was a complete mess.

"Hey! I just fixed my hair too!" Misaki whined.

"What're you talking about, it was a mess from before!" Tsubaki exclaimed. He suddenly bent over in pain as someone smacked him on the back of his head.

Behind Tsubaki stood a large man with a protruding belly and a larger chef's hat on his head. "Are you bothering my best customer Tsubaki?" he scolded.

"I am not!" Tsubaki whined as he rubbed his head and turned to glare at the man behind him.

"Izumi-san, Tsubaki-nii was ruining my hair!" Misaki complained.

Tsubaki turned his glare to the evilly grinning Misaki. The little rascal was trying to get him in trouble.

Izumi mock gasped and turned his stern face to Tsubaki "It seems like all the customer service I've been trying to teach you is going down the drain. Kami-sama, why did you give me such a useless son?" Izumi said in despair.

Tsubaki rolled his eyes as he gave up the fight. His dad was just using this as an excuse to bad mouth him.

"So what can I get you Misaki-chan?" Izumi asked cheerfully as his son moved out of his way to get more supplies ready for the evening rush.

"Two shoy-yu ramen bowls please!" Misaki asked while pulling change out of her pocket.

"That'll be 1000 yen" Tsubaki said as he finished putting the last bowl in place. His father had already started getting the bowls ready.

Misaki pulled out two 500 yen coins from her pocket and handed them to Tsubaki. "So, who's the little boy with you?" he asked after he put the money away "I hope he's not your boyfriend, you're too young to get one" Tsubaki scolded, with the ferocity of an older brother.

"Of course not Tsubaki-nii. tora-Tora is a new friend I made today. I was showing him around the city."

"Ahh, makes sense. That's good, little boys and girls should only remain friends" he said in all seriousness looking relieved. He even pulled a smile as he went to shake Tora's hand.

"My name is Tsubaki Andou" he said.

"Tora Igarashi, nice to meet you Tsubaki-san." Tora said respectfully.

"Wow, you're such a polite kid! Make sure you learn from him Misaki."

Misaki just stuck her tongue out at him "I have good manners ok" she said in an annoyed voice.

Tsubaki just laughed as he reached over to grab one of the finished bowls of ramen. He noticed that his dad had added some extra meat in both bowls for the children and he smiled at the excited looks on their faces.

Misaki and Tora took the bowls with a thankyou and began to dig in. They noisily slurped their way through the entire bowl until it was wiped clean.

"Thank you Izumi-san! That was even better than normal!" Misaki complimented.

Tora nodded enthusiastically "Yes, thank you very much! That was the yummiest thing I've ever tasted!" he said truthfully.

Izumi smiled at the two children as he accepted the praise "I'm glad you liked it, I put my secret ingredient in it today to make it extra yummy for you two."

"Really?" Misaki asked in awe.

Izumi nodded his head while patting the side of his nose with a finger "Yup, but don't tell anyone ok? The secret ingredient is only for important customers. They'd all want some if you told them."

Misaki and Tora nodded their heads vigorously and promised to take the secret to the grave. After that they headed out since the stand was starting to get busy.

"Bye Tsubaki-nii! Bye Izumi-san!" Misaki called as she led Tora away.

"Take care of yourself kiddo!" Tsubaki called in farewell before he became busy in taking orders.

"That was so awesome!" Tora said excitedly as Misaki led him away to a less crowded street.

"Do you have to go home now?" Misaki asked as she turned to look at Tora sadly.

Tora noticed the darkened sky and he nodded his head, his face losing its grin.

Misaki bit her lip before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a string with a pendent on it. The pendent showed a dragon on it and Misaki held it out to Tora.

He looked at it in surprise before slowly reaching out and taking it into his hands. He looked it over carefully and ran his finger over the engravings. It was a very detailed image now that he could see it clearer. And the pendent felt heavy in his hand.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Misaki nodded. "Yup, I know you were lucky to get out today, and I don't know if I'll see you again since we're both really far away. But this way, you'll always remember today and how much fun we had. It's also a promise to stay friends even if we never see each other again."

Tora looked up to smile at Misaki "I promise. We'll always be friends."

Misaki grinned back at him "That's good. Though, it'd be nice if you could come and visit sometime. You know where I live, so be sure to stop by ok?"

"Of course."

Misaki smiled before turning to continue leading Tora down the street. They arrived at a cross roads and Misaki stopped there. "Do you know how to get home from here?" she asked as she turned towards him.

Tora nodded his head. He turned to look down the street that would lead him home and he knew he would find someone there looking for him.

He turned to say one final goodbye to Misaki when he was suddenly engulfed in a hug. "It was really nice meeting you Tora. Never forget me ok?" Misaki said as she let go of him.

"Never" Tora promised "Not as long as I live. And you'd better not forget about me too Misa!" he said.

Misaki giggled "How could I?"

Misaki and Tora smiled at each other for a second. Neither knew when they would meet again. But they knew someday they would, they would just have to wait for that day.

"Bye Misa, see you soon!" Tora said as he turned to head home.

"Bye tora-Tora!" Misaki called waving bother her arms in the air. Misaki kept waving until Tora had disappeared out of site before she headed home to her family.

Tora looked back once before he turned before forcing himself back towards his regular life. He clutched the pendent he wore around his neck and promised himself to never forget. Even if he never met her again in this life, the two would always be friends.

*/*

Current day Tora arrived home after listening to Misaki's story and put his things away. What Misaki had told them all today was her opening up a lot after not sharing for years on end. He returned to his room and reclined in his chair thinking about all that he had heard.

Absent mindedly he pulled out a pendent he had around his neck that was on a silver chain. The string had worn away years ago but he had kept it safe by putting it on a new chain. He stroked the dragon engraving as he sat lost in thought looking out his window into the busy city of Tokyo.

* * *

 **How'd you like that? I actually thought it was kinda cute. If you're wondering, no, neither Tora nor Misaki have any idea who the other is. It's been what... 11 years since they met. I'm not saying there won't be some interaction other wise (spoilers) but nothing that would make them realize who the other is.**

 **Hope you enjoy! If you'd like to see more mini-TOE stuff or JD stuff be sure to check out JAD once in a while. And if you'd like me to write something specifically for you send me a pm or review. I'll write a special chapter dedicated to you :)**

 **Peace out**

 **PWNAGENINJA**


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